Email marketing comes in a variety of flavors. Some are sent in plain text, others are html enriched that allow text, graphics and background. There are even some email marketing campaigns that provide an abbreviated email edition with a full version on their business website. Of course business owners provide ample links throughout their email to give the recipient as many opportunities as possible to drop by.
One of the more recent innovations in email marketing is video email. When I reviewed several video email sites I was impressed with a company called Talk Fusion.

The video emails sent through the system do not require buffering and the voice and video match. In many ways it was just like watching TV.
The instant startup of the video message was impressive. My mind kept conjuring up a variety of marketing uses for video email.
For instance, if you have a brick and mortar store with an online presence you may use a video email message to congratulate a customer on a promotion, anniversary or birthday.

Of course they get to see you personally deliver the video message, but your contact information is placed in the video email as well. For a one on one connection this type of email seems a better solution than more common ecards.
If your product is exclusive to an online community you can use video to demonstrate your product or provide a very personal touch in presenting the finer points of your product line.
The use of video email is likely to draw attention. One of the reasons I believe this to be true is that many email marketing campaigns are subject to intense skimming. The email recipient is perusing your email in an effort to see if it is worthwhile. With a video they may be more willing to simply view what you have to say without interruption. That would certainly hold the potential for a greater conversion rate.
In most cases it would be advisable to script your video email ahead of time and make sure it is clear and compact in presentation. Your customers value their time and if you ramble they are more likely to cut the viewing short.

It would even be possible with video email to take a short video streaming idea that may be new to your site and send a portion of it as a video email encouraging recipients to visit your website to view the entire stream.
If you are looking for a fresh idea for your email marketing campaign the potential for video email might just be enough to encourage you to give it a good look.